We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Erin Dragoo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Erin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I helped my mother-in-law, Judy, with her boutique in the Sun Lakes area for years; and even though I graduated with a degree in Journalism, I decided that I loved the small business boutique life, and I wanted to open my own instead of perusing a career in PR. I sold jewelry at her boutique, and learned the ins and outs of the business, so I felt ready to “fly the coop.”

In the spring of 2021, I kept seeing all of these beautiful gift shops on Instagram, like Presley Paige, Golden Gems and Simon Limon, and I would find myself daydreaming of owning one myself. How fun that would be to order not just jewelry, but a whole pink store full of things that I love! I would be at work just imagining everything about what my store would look like, and what I would call it. One day, in July 2021, the name came to me. Once that happened, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I couldn’t live one more day without bringing this idea to life. So I hired a realtor that same week, and began the branding process. In February 2022, Lunch Money was born.

Why did I think it would be successful? Because I assumed that everyone loves a gift shop. That’s part of being a Leo; you assume that everyone likes the same things that you do, and they’re crazy if they don’t. But, also, as I was coming up with my business plan and I reached the “Competition” section, I found that there were really no stores like mine in Chandler or Gilbert. There are cute little boutiques, and a couple of gift shops, but none of them were pink. None of them had disco balls and dopamine decor. And I don’t know about everyone else, but if I’m leaving the house nowadays, it’s only going to be for a memorable experience. I get so much joy from being at home, that wherever I’m going better bring me the same amount of joy. And as for myself, I love pink. I love color. And I love to spend money. Three staples of Lunch Money!

Now, I’m sure you’re wondering about the name and why it was the final push for me to make this whole thing happen. Well, that’s the fun part! Ever since I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with gift shops. Every time my mom would take my sister and I on a vacation, the first place in the hotel that I would visit would be the gift shop. And I could stay in there for hours. I remember being very mildly hit by a car in Europe because I saw a store I wanted to go in, and I didn’t look both ways before running across the street to get to it. They still tease me about that, by the way. When I was in high school, my mom used to give me $20 every week for lunch — but, I never did spend that money on lunch. Instead, I would take it to the mall and buy silly little things that made me happy. So, now I have a store full of everything I would spend my lunch money on! Hence the name Lunch Money.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

It took me a long time to figure out “what I wanted to be when I grow up.” After high school, I thought I wanted to be a hairdresser. I tried that for about five years, and it didn’t fulfill me. My husband, Kyle, urged me to quit hair and go back to college to find what I love. He was very convincing! So I did. I went to Chandler-Gilbert Community College for my gen-eds, took a few electives to explore different interests. I found that I loved my marketing classes the most. They were the perfect combination of logic and creativity. And I really enjoyed designing things on the computer — websites, flyers, social media posts, etc. So, when I finished my gen-eds, I decided to go to ASU for Communications. All the classes that I was interested in taking were at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, so I went there for four years and graduated with my bachelor’s degree.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, however, I also started working with Judy at her boutique. So once I graduated, I did try and start my own little social media and web design business on the side, but I still just loved the boutique life better. So, I let go of my social media and web design business and just worked exclusively with Judy until I opened Lunch Money.

The moral here is to never stop looking for what it is you’re passionate about. It took me 31 years to discover that my place in the world is right here at my little pink gift shop.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I was looking for my first space to lease for Lunch Money, my only criteria was that it should be in a “pretty” shopping center, it should have a bathroom, and it should be within a five mile radius of my house. I wasn’t very concerned with foot traffic, because in my cocky Leo brain, I thought that my cute store would bring the foot traffic. I thought that people would hear about the unique little gift shop in Chandler, AZ and just flock to it. And for the first few months, they did! But eventually, the novelty of being a new store wore off. The foot traffic died down, and so did my ego. I signed a three year lease with that landlord, so for the next couple years, I would just have to grin and bear it. We were taking personal money out to pay the rent. It was very humbling.

When the lease was up, I knew I had to change my criteria for my space. I saw some space for lease at San Tan Village Marketplace — that swanky outdoor mall in Gilbert — and I jumped at the opportunity. Am I financially where I want to be? No. But the move to here was definitely a step in the right direction, and I’m so thankful for the San Tan Village team that welcomed me with open arms.

Any advice for managing a team?

I struggle with this a bit, because I think I’m too nice. It’s difficult for me to reprimand people or tell them no. But, I’ve found that generally, if you’re good to your team, that they want to do right by you. Think of a time when you hated your boss. Did you care about doing a good job for them? I know I didn’t. So, for me, I try to acknowledge and thank my employees every time they do something that helps me or the business. Even just for putting things away, or tagging items. I constantly try and build them up. You catch more bees with honey than vinegar!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lunchmoneyaz.com
• Instagram: @lunchmoneaz
• Facebook: @lunchmoneyaz
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/lunch-money-gilbert
• Other: TikTok: @lunchmoneyaz